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There’s always been a big debate about whether secondhand game sales are beneficial for the gaming industry at large. Well, Guillaume de Fondaumière, co-founder of Quantic Dream, has weighed in; he seems to think that secondhand sales have robbed him of between $6.8 and $13.6 million in royalties. Quantic Dream produced Heavy Rain, which was critically acclaimed but did not perform well on the sales charts. “We basically sold to date approximately two million units; we know from the trophy system that probably more than three million people bought this game and played it,” Fondaumiere said. “On my small level it’s a million people playing my game without giving me one cent. And my calculation is, as Quantic Dream, I lost between 5 and 10 million [Euros] worth of royalties because of secondhand gaming.” 
“Now are games too expensive?” he asks. “I’ve always said that games are probably too expensive so there’s probably a right level here to find, and we need to discuss this altogether and try to find a way to I would say reconcile consumer expectations, retail expectations but also the expectations of the publisher and the developers to make this business a worthwhile business.” I’m not sure that I’m completely willing to agree with Fondaumière just yet, but this might be because I feel guilty for purchasing my copy of Heavy Rain from the bargain bin at Walmart. By Josh Engen |